Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, said he will allow his fully vaccinated neighbors into his house without masks but that he is staying away from crowded indoor spaces.
“I don’t think I would — even if I’m vaccinated — go into an indoor, crowded place where people are not wearing masks,” Fauci told Business Insider during an interview published this week.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 179 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the U.S. as of Saturday afternoon.
However, Fauci said Americans should not yet claim victory over the virus as case counts surge in several states.
Michigan in particular has seen a spike in cases, with the coronavirus ripping through workplaces, churches and other public areas, according to The New York Times.
“It’s kind of a race between the vaccine and the possibility that there’ll be another surge,” Fauci said.
Fauci said 70 to 85 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity, which could happen by June if the U.S. continues to administer an average of 3 million vaccines per day, Business Insider reported.
“If we could just hold on for a while,” he told Business Insider, “we’ll reach a point where the protection of the general community by the vaccine would really make it very unlikely that we’re going to have another surge.”
Although Fauci is not going to indoor spaces or traveling, he is allowing neighbors who are vaccinated into his home without masks.
“We feel very comfortable in the house with no masks, and we can have physical contact and things like that,” Fauci said.
Fauci said his cautious lifestyle could be due to how busy he is as well.
“To be honest with you, I don’t really have time to do anything else,” he said. “I haven’t gotten the day off in a year and three months.”
The CDC has put out guidelines for vaccinated people, stating that they can travel domestically without having to quarantine and can meet with other vaccinated people without masks.